Chapter 43

Chapter 43

Han Siwoo stroked his chin thoughtfully.

“...It doesn't sound that bad.”

“You bastards! Easy for you to say when it's not your problem!”

“Well, yeah. It isn't my problem.”

Han Siwoo smiled.

My brother looked like he wanted to say something, but instead only ground his teeth while glaring at me.

I smiled even wider.

“Don't worry. You're the tanker.”

“And how am I supposed to get all the way up there?”

“We have a way.”

I turned toward Lee Junhyuk.

More specifically, toward the staff in his hands.

My brother seemed to realize what I meant.

His face went pale.

“Don't tell me...”

“Good luck, our brave tanker!”

“You call yourself my sister...?”

My brother looked deeply unhappy.

But apparently, he couldn't think of a better solution either.

He only sighed repeatedly.

“If I get hurt, I'm killing you.”

He reluctantly approached Lee Junhyuk.

Lee Junhyuk placed the staff against my brother's back.

My brother looked nervously at him as Junhyuk gathered mana.

“Hey, are you sure this is saaaaaaafe?!”

His voice turned into a scream as he shot into the air.

My brother flew above the Ice Phoenix at high speed.

Using his falling momentum, he raised his shield to attack.

Whoosh.

The Ice Phoenix noticed him.

It opened its mouth and released a freezing wind.

The outer surface of my Shield immediately began frosting over.

Naturally, so did the shield my brother was holding.

“Urgh... damn iiiiiit!”

The Ice Phoenix opened its mouth wide, preparing to attack my falling brother.

I hurriedly used my skill.

[Skill 'Lag Lv.8' activated.]

The Ice Phoenix's movements slowed for an instant.

But its skill had already activated.

Huge icicles shot toward my brother from every direction.

My Shield's durability dropped rapidly.

I shouted.

“Lee Junhyuk!”

“Already doing it!”

The moment he answered, Lee Junhyuk activated his skill.

I immediately cast Enhancement on him.

BOOOOOOM!

A massive pillar of flame struck the back of the Ice Phoenix's head.

The heat was so intense that the surrounding ice vaporized instantly.

Even from where we stood, the heat wrapped around our skin.

The Ice Phoenix itself obviously took far worse.

“Screeeeeech!”

Flames clung to its body.

HISSSSS.

Enormous clouds of steam filled the air.

Before long, the sky was completely hidden behind white smoke.

Then something burst through the clouds.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Massive chunks of ice began falling everywhere.

My brother raised his shield.

I strengthened it with Enhancement.

Han Siwoo used his sword to knock away flying shards of ice.

We all gathered around Lee Junhyuk while he continued channeling his skill.

Large drops of sweat rolled down his forehead.

His face grew paler by the second.

I checked the Party Window.

[Lee Junhyuk] [Remaining Mana: 58%] [Remaining Health: 70%]

[Lee Junhyuk] [Remaining Mana: 50%] [Remaining Health: 68%]

[Lee Junhyuk] [Remaining Mana: 45%] [Remaining Health: 65%]

If I could, I would have poured a Blue Elixir straight into his mouth.

But all we could do was protect him from taking damage.

Fortunately, the struggle didn't last too long.

Soon, parts of the Ice Phoenix's body began melting under the overwhelming heat and dripping to the ground.

A few droplets became a heavy downpour.

['Curse of the Ice Phoenix' has temporarily reduced your recovery ability.]

I narrowed my eyes at the system window.

Don't tell me it's still alive.

I stared up at the hazy sky, thinking about how stubborn the thing was.

Then...

BOOM!

Something huge crashed right beside me.

The impact shook the soles of my feet.

[Dungeon Raid Successful.]

I turned.

Shattered chunks of ice were scattered across the ground.

They were the remains of the Ice Phoenix.

I stared at them with a strange feeling.

It was...

Surprising.

The fight hadn't been easy.

But it hadn't been that difficult either.

We've become that much stronger.

At this rate, even if the events from the novel happened, maybe we wouldn't be in that much danger.

I couldn't say for sure.

But if we had grown beyond the versions of ourselves described in the novel...

Then being able to struggle instead of dying helplessly would be enough.

We still have plenty of time.

I turned.

Lee Junhyuk was lying flat on the ground, completely drained.

I walked over.

He was soaked from head to toe by the water that had melted from the Ice Phoenix.

“Are you okay?”

“Haa... yeah... this much... if I rest a little...”

He sounded too exhausted to even speak properly.

His Health was at 35%.

No wonder he was tired.

The raid was already over.

Normally, letting him recover naturally would have been fine.

Still, considering how much he had contributed, that felt a little too cruel.

[Skill 'Healing Lv.9' activated.]

[Recovery amount reduced due to 'Curse of the Ice Phoenix'.]

[Lee Junhyuk] [Remaining Mana: 32%] [Remaining Health: 37%]

What?

Only two percent?

I had no choice.

I clicked my tongue and used Debuff Removal.

['Curse of the Ice Phoenix' cannot be removed until you leave the dungeon.]

I clicked my tongue again.

The name already sounded troublesome.

Debuffs with words like 'Curse,' 'Calamity,' or 'Disaster' tended to be persistent.

They were often impossible to remove until you actually left the dungeon.

Still, since the condition specifically mentioned leaving the dungeon, it shouldn't be a major problem right now.

The fighting was already over.

“Why? Weren't you... trying to heal me?”

Lee Junhyuk asked weakly.

I scratched my cheek awkwardly.

“Hmm. Doesn't look like I can properly heal you until we leave.”

“...Because of that Ice Phoenix Curse thing?”

Apparently, he had seen the same system message.

I nodded.

“Well, the raid's already done. Go home and rest.”

My brother held out a hand to Lee Junhyuk.

Even while exhausted, Lee Junhyuk gave him an arrogant smile.

“See? You can't do anything without me.”

My brother let out a hollow laugh at Junhyuk's incredible consistency.

“Yeah, yeah. You're amazing.”

“...Glad you finally realized.”

With a weak smile and half-closed eyes, Lee Junhyuk grabbed my brother's hand.

They were still constantly arguing.

But compared to before, they seemed a little closer.

Maybe they had finally developed some reluctant affection.

“Did anything good drop?”

I approached Han Siwoo, who was collecting items.

He shook his head.

“An E-rank Mana Stone and about two Elixirs.”

It wasn't a good haul by any stretch.

Still, if today helped my brother and Lee Junhyuk get along even a little better, it wasn't completely worthless.

“Good work, everyone.”

We hadn't earned much.

But seeing how much stronger everyone had become filled me with a strange pride.

Lee Junhyuk eventually got up and staggered over.

He looked so exhausted that I almost felt sorry for him.

“If you're tired, we can rest a little before leaving.”

Dungeon gates usually stayed open for around an hour after the boss was defeated.

That meant we could safely rest for about thirty minutes.

Lee Junhyuk stared at me, then shook his head.

“I'm fine. I'd rather go home and rest.”

True.

Resting at home would be far more comfortable than resting inside a dungeon filled with monster corpses.

I nodded and reached toward the gate.

Then...

A chilling sensation crushed down on my entire body.

Goosebumps ran down my spine.

I had never felt anything like it before.

Yet instinctively, I understood.

Don't tell me...

I tried to turn around.

But my body had already been pulled into the gate.

When I opened my eyes...

I wasn't outside.

I was inside another dungeon.

Something was terribly wrong.

Dense mana pressed against my skin.

Simply standing there made it difficult to breathe.

My body felt heavy.

The atmosphere was completely different from an E-rank dungeon.

Impossible...

How?

Why?

Why now?

Unorganized thoughts burst through my mind one after another.

My thoughts froze.

I had no idea what I was supposed to do.

I barely held my expression together.

I wet my dry lips and tried to calm myself.

But once my mind had started shaking, it refused to settle.

Then a sound suddenly rang beside my ear.

Ding.

[Main Scenario I: Noble Sacrifice.]

[Quest Objective: Return from the Distorted Dungeon without losing a single person.]

[Penalty Upon Failure: Death of all members.]

[Quest Summary: Escape together with your teammates.]

[Quest Rewards: (?), (?), Recovery, Skill Proficiency.]

I bit my lip.

A Distorted Dungeon.

In the novel...

A Distorted Dungeon was the reason I eventually died.

But why now?

It wasn't supposed to appear in this situation.

The timing was wrong too.

A Distorted Dungeon was not supposed to exist yet.

Then I felt several presences behind me.

This really was the worst possible situation.

“What the hell is this place?”

“Inside a dungeon...?”

“Did we not leave yet?”

Confused voices rose behind me.

I swallowed a sigh and tried to decide what I should tell them.

Then, as I turned around...

My eyes suddenly widened.